


Outfoxed

by TheMightyFlynn



Series: Family Matters [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 02:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11957685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyFlynn/pseuds/TheMightyFlynn
Summary: Lucius has her outmanoeuvred this one time.





	Outfoxed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [theiceroyals](https://theiceroyals.dreamwidth.org/) monthly prompt: Everything is a choice.

**August 23rd, 1998.**

It was two days before Lucius re-joined Narcissa for a formal meal, as was their custom. She had seen little of him and none of Draco in those two days.

“Narcissa, darling.”

She nearly choked on her bacon. Lucius came sweeping into the dining room, his robes swinging around his ankles as though he were attempting to intimidate some lackey at the Ministry. The cane that had been so much a part of his ensemble for so long that she had trouble remembering a time before he had used it clacked against the wooden floorboards as he strode to the head of the table.

“How are you this fine morning?”

She blinked. Watching him as he settled himself in his accustomed seat and ordered breakfast from the House-elf that popped into existence next to his elbow, Narcissa frowned.

“Have you lost your mind?”

Lucius merely smiled at her. “Excuse me, my dear?” He flicked his napkin out and placed it delicately on his lap just before the House-elf reappeared with a plate of fruit and a bowl of porridge. “I do not have the pleasure of understanding you.”

“I have seen neither hide nor hair of you in two bloody days, Lucius! And now you come sweeping into the dining room and ask me _how I am_?”

“Now, now, Cissa,” he rebuked her. “Are we really going to resort to such language at the breakfast table? It’s so… uncouth.”

Narcissa pressed her lips together in an attempt to not reach over and strangle him. “‘Uncouth’?”

“Indeed.” He paused, brushing his long hair back out of the way as he pierced a strawberry with his fork and held it up, examining it before taking a delicate bite. “We always have a choice in our behaviour, Cissa. If we choose, we can hold ourselves to the highest standards. Not even the Muggle royal family would be able to match either of us in presentation or etiquette, if we so chose. Or…” Another pause as he added a slice of mango to his fork and slowly chewed both it and the remains of the strawberry. “Or we could lower ourselves; lower our standards. We could begin to swear at the table, chew with our mouths open, maybe even arrive half-dressed, or in our pyjamas. I am sure that the House-elves would never betray our trust and speak out of turn to their true masters when they go back to the Ministry.”

A loud buzzing sound had entered Narcissa’s ears the second Lucius had begun to school her on etiquette. Her skin prickled with an indignant anger at his impertinence, but she held her tongue. There was something else going on here; she knew it. Lucius disappeared for two days after an argument in which Draco – their only son and heir – had come out to them as being gay, then just as suddenly reappeared, seemingly in as good a mood as Narcissa remembered him being since the start of the second war? No, it was too easy. He was hiding something. She slowly cut her egg, added a slice of bacon to her fork and copied his composure, giving herself some time to think.

“You sound as though you believe you married a savage.”

“I meant no insult to you, my dear, you must know that. I was merely–”

“Pointing out that my use of common foul language was beneath my usual standards? Believe me, Lucius, I am absolutely certain that my use of the word was justified. Yes, even at the breakfast table.”

She watched as a small smile crossed his face. It wasn’t his lips that she focussed on, however. His eyes flicked momentarily to the door before turning back to her. Yes, there was definitely something else going on here.

“I apologise, my love. When I spoke of choices, I was merely saying that–”

“Master Lucius?”

Narcissa almost jumped as a tiny, Ministry-trained elf entered the room. The bloody things were so quiet that Narcissa had considered on more than one occasion putting bells on them.

“Yes, Dinky?”

“You have a visitor, Sir.”

The elf had barely gotten the words out before it was almost shoved aside. The man who strode into the room was clad neck to toes in black, a stark contrast to the white walls of the dining room. The scowl he wore was nearly as dark as his clothing.

“You _summoned_ me, Lucius?”

Severus Snape had lost none of his contempt for the world in the wake of the war. The curl of his lip told Narcissa exactly what he thought of being ‘summoned’, as he had put it. In fact, the only thing that had changed about him, as far as Narcissa could see, was the rasp of his voice. While it had always been deep and ominous sounding, the injuries he had suffered had added new depth, a new sense of intimidation to it. Narcissa half stood before he raised a hand in her direction.

“Please, Narcissa. I did not mean to interrupt your breakfast. If the blame lies with anyone, it is with your _darling_ husband.”

“Oh, Severus, I never knew you cared so.” Lucius popped one last strawberry into his mouth before standing and stretching. “If you will excuse me, my love, I have a number of things I need to discuss with Severus.”

When he bent to place a soft kiss on her lips, she could taste the berries he had been eating. Narcissa grasped his wrist as he made to move past her.

“Lucius?”

“It is nothing to worry about, Narcissa. I just wish for Severus to keep an eye on Draco while he is away at school, that is all.”

“Lucius!”

But before she could stand from the table, the two of them had already departed. Narcissa sighed. It seemed that, this one time, Lucius had outmanoeuvred her.


End file.
